As a child, I sometimes read comic books for entertainment. I did not believe in flying dragons but they certainly stimulated the imagination. As an old-timer, older than dirt, I read travel writers just for fun. I do believe some write at great length about Mexico without ever visiting.
Case in point: Smarter Travel magazine had a headline about Mexico secret places. That got my undivided attention. "Ready to discover the real Mexico? If you haven't yet ventured beyond the mega resorts and Senor Frog franchises, here's help. In these 10 cities, undiscovered by most American travelers, you'll see another side of Mexico."
The thought of learning about 10 places “undiscovered by most American travelers” was exciting. For many years we have traveled widely but, unlike the Hank Snow long-ago song, we have not been everywhere.
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Guanajuato City’s colonial downtown, constructed centuries ago, resembles that of old Spain. In colonial times, the mines here were producing a significant part of the world’s silver production. It was the silver that financed the massive building projects which included churches, and the massive Alhondiga. This latter building, built at the end of the colonial period as a corn storage facility, was soon used as a fort, later served as a prison, and is now a museum.
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There's more to the Mexico seashore than skimboards, seafood and sun-bathing bronzed bodies: there is solitude. There are vast stretches of uninhabited or unfrequented beaches lounging serenely beside a roiling sea that stretches westward seemingly into infinity.
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Snowbirds are landing in our exciting little corner of Mexico. Merchants say none too soon.
We, the Wests, enjoy Christmas at Thanksgiving with our extended family in Tennessee. When the last guest goes home, we follow them out the door, in the general direction of Jocotepec, at the west end (naturally) of Lake Chapala...
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The Fiesta de Cristo Rey has become as famous as many of the Day of the Dead rites in other communities around Mexico. It's the peak of the flower growing season in Michoacán and the residents not only gather the flowers to decorate the streets but they also paint the streets with incredible and startling floral designs.
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Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatan, is commanding growing attention for a number of reasons. An emerging hub of art, design and jewelry making, it's also a bastion of culinary flair, centered on its unique Yucatecan flavor fusion born of Spanish recipes and Mayan ingredients. Its central theaters are stunning jewels of architectural poetry, as well as settings for wondrous dance and concert performances.

Merida is also a convenient jumping off point for jaunts to ancient Mayan treasures like Chichen Itza, Kabah and Uxmal.

But it's Merida's after-dark energy that has me instantly enraptured...
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As Tony notes in his Introduction, this is "not intended to b a comprehensive guide to all the possible day trips and longer tours in the region…. Rather, it is a personal, idiosyncratic collection of my favorite places in Western Mexico…." The book is filled with whatever Tony finds fascinating… interesting and curious details of history and geography and geology and flora and fauna, and art and architecture and archaeology....
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50 weeks out of the year Tlacotalpan sits in its torpid tropical slumber, but starting late January and running for two weeks it celebrates the Fiesta de la Candelaria. For most of these two weeks the Feria (fair) is made up of a carnival, bailes tropicales (salsa dances), and a very large tianguis (temporary market). Then – in stark contrast to its normal tranquility — on January 31st through February 2nd the town explodes into a religious and secular frenzy, its streets stuffed with true believers and joyful revelers.
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The people waiting at the Civic Center either went to get someone out of jail or take the train to the US-Mexico border. That was life, dia y noche in San Diego and the most charming way to enter Mexico, via Tijuana.
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The Hacienda Beach Club and Residences is balanced gracefully on the edge of the Sea of Cortez, on the shore of Medano Beach — arguably the premiere swimming beach in all of Los Cabos. Fringed with the white lace of the surf, its waters, transition smoothly to the aquamarines of tropical greens and blues, then recede into the depths of the deeper blues just beyond the boats anchored offshore. Most special, the Hacienda lays claim to what are probably the most stunning vistas of Land's End, Cabo's iconic rugged outcroppings that mark the end of the long Baja peninsula.
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The Baja 1,000 is considered one of the most dangerous, but exciting, races in the world.
It winds through mountains and desert in the most remote parts of Baja California with drivers dodging Mother Nature's homespun hazards like rugged dry washes and rapid changes in altitude. They also deal with free-roaming livestock, rattlesnakes and one of the largest concentrations of big, bad cacti on the planet.
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During twenty-four years of reconnoitering the highways and byways of western Mexico, I have never come across a road as rewarding as the 53-kilometer stretch from Tala to San Marcos in the state of Ja...
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There are Mexicans these days who have never attended a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The holiday has taken a back seat to the many saints' days and other festivals.
The growth of celebrations in the Uni...
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This 2,000 kilometer driving tour serves the needs of vacationers to Oaxaca who also want to take in the sights in central Chiapas. It is also useful those who want to at least consider visits to the Pacific coastal resorts in Oaxaca and the Gulf beaches and cultural sights in the state of Veracruz… all without foreclosing a side trip to Puebla. The south central circuit of Mexico provides travelers with a leisurely and culturally diverse driving segment within the context of a two or three week vacation, with virtually no backtracking.
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An adventurous English couple builds a boat, sails toward Oregon to buy horses, but settles on Mexico's Bay of Banderas in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle where they run a restaurant and promote Huichol art.
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The woman's voice from the dashboard announces, "In three point five kilometers, turn right onto I 80 toward Qptlantapque." - "What did she say? What is she talking about?" I ask. I'm driving, peering at the array of green signs ahead which look vaguely familiar. Not one comes close to matching any destination our audible guide has pronounced with such an unusual number of consonants.
Bill consults the Mexico map book spread across his lap. "Ignore her," he says and takes the GPS from its special perch to enter new information.

Tapalpa is an alpine town south of Guadalajara. Surrounded by forests, lakes and streams, Tapalpa beckons visitors to its restful landscape. One winter weekend, as my van snakes up the Sierras, I stare...
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The lush green volcanic hills of southern Veracruz permitted only glimpses of the approaching Laguna Catemaco. Small islands hid among swirls of soft grey neblina.(fog) They appeared then disappeare...
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Mathieu de Fossey was born in France in 1805, and educated in Dijon. Politically disillusioned following the end of the reign of King Charles X in 1830, Fossey responded enthusiastically to an intrig...
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